However, while ghosts of the past are echoed in his work, Kelly fashioned a distinctive style that cannot be placed in any time period. In the early '80s, Kelly was a member of the Lotus Eaters, a band that recalled the Smiths' adolescent woe and the Left Banke's sublime pop. Kelly recorded one LP with the Lotus Eaters, No Sense of Sin, in 1984, but its poor sales prompted Arista Records to drop them; consequently, the Lotus Eaters went on hiatus, one that lasted for more than ten years. In 1987, Kelly reformed his earlier group the Wild Swans and appeared on one album with them, Bringing Home the Ashes. But Kelly became disenchanted with the band's artistic direction and left. Kelly then went to college, earning a degree in drama/theater and English literature, as well as an M.A. in theater and film studies. While working as a full-time lecturer at Knowsley Community College in Liverpool, England, Kelly was asked by Inspiral Carpets frontman Tom Hingley to write music with him; the result was the short-lived project the Lovers. In 1998, encouraged by the popularity of the Lotus Eaters and acoustic-based music in Japan, Kelly reformed the group with vocalist Peter Coyle and released the album Silentspace in 2001. ~ Michael Sutton